Swiss Army Knife: Most Useless

[Iyonk]

If people find Victorinox swiss army knife to be useless, then the company wont survive or growing from 1884 to today.

the CHARM of the SAKs are the selections...

if you dont like the cork screw, get the model with philips instead...
if you dont like the awl or backtools get the models that dont have back tools...
if you dont like the toothpick or tweezer, get the alox models...
if you want a locking blade or one hand openable, there are models to select also..
if you want more tools, get the thick models-- want less tools, get the slimmest you want.

the blade steel is perfect... its very rust resistance, tough and dont get chip. sharpen easily, could take an awesome edge and hold it more than decently... its full flat grind and thin enough that its very perfect for utility...
the other tools are very well engineered and well thought for their size... with imagenations, sky is the limit.. even the least use fish scaller and hook remover got a precision rullers on them to measure something.

when a SAK breaks, 99.99% is becouse of abuse, lack of common sense to use a small pocket knife and tools, lack of knowledge or just ignorant use.

for the very affordable price, SAKs are just perfect.

if i could only have one knife it would be a Victorinox swiss army knives.

 

[stoffi]

SAKs are a great backup to have in your kit or on your keychain. Sure, they don't do stuff very well, but they work in a pinch for most common uses. Having said that, I think modern multi-tools like Leatherman are better.

 

[RemyKaze]

SAKs are a great backup to have in your kit or on your keychain. Sure, they don't do stuff very well, but they work in a pinch for most common uses. Having said that, I think modern multi-tools like Leatherman are better.

That's what I'm saying. That's the only thing I was saying from the start. However, people insist that if you break a knife you must be using it the wrong way, or don't know how to use it, or you're being too hard on it. I mean, why verbally slap someone in the face for relating the truth of their experiences and opinions? I'm sure people have broken Leathermans and switched to SAKs or Gerbers or SOGs and been totally satisfied. Let's face it; sometimes a knife just doesn't hold up to repeated use that is considered well within its stress range. My opinion is just that the pocketknife SAKs aren't as hardy as a multitool, and that includes their own Swisstool line. Obviously even the company saw the need for something with a little more strength.

 

[stormyone]

I disagree in every respect. The blade cuts like a scalpel, the saw works better than not having a saw, the magnifier certainly magnifies, . . . you get my point. But differing opinions are what make the world go around, I guess. Well, that plus some combination of gravity/mass/inertia/centripetal force and some other good stuff.

Its hard to beat the hook as the most useless SAK tool. But the corkscrew and fish scaler do.

One of my favorite knives right there. It ain't very tactical, but if I were stranded on a deserted island, this is the knife I would want with me.

 

[samforce]

I use the fish scaler to clean the rails of my other SAKs and folding knives. Just wrap a piece of paper towel on the tip.

 

[vanslem6]

I was eyeballing a cadet today, but I honestly don't see a reason to have one. I don't like to carry a bunch of stuff around, and I've got a benchmade 940 in my pocket. A little ingenuity + a good knife go a long, long way. IMO, of course.

 

[RedLynx]

I was eyeballing a cadet today, but I honestly don't see a reason to have one. I don't like to carry a bunch of stuff around, and I've got a benchmade 940 in my pocket. A little ingenuity + a good knife go a long, long way. IMO, of course.

I don't usually comment on resurrected threads but this one isn't terribly decomposed.

But really, I don't consider carrying a SAK to be carrying a bunch of stuff around. It's several tools in one design. It's more like one thing that can do a lot of things.

 

[vanslem6]

It's several tools in one design. It's more like one thing that can do a lot of things.

Perhaps I'm odd, but that's how I describe the knives I carry. I also only need to carry one, ever.
I would venture to say that a 940 will perform 99% of the tasks of your average SAK, in one way or another. Though not necessarily in the best form.

Also, I hadn't realized how old this thread was. Oops.

 

[collim1]

I have broken two Victorinox knives, both Tinkers. I was grossly mistreating them and knew it at the time, but I was in a bind and didn't have real tools.

I still have a Tinker that has been used properly and I has been carried for years and is still going strong.

 

[SAK Guy]

I thought the hook was useless, too, until I read the manual. Then I saw that I could use it to mount the chain on my bike when it slips off the gears without getting grease all over my hands. Now I think it's a great feature.

That awl, though, I can't figure out. It seems to be on every damn knife they sell, but who really uses it?

Use it all the time!

Love my ALOX

 

[RedLynx]

Perhaps I'm odd, but that's how I describe the knives I carry. I also only need to carry one, ever.
I would venture to say that a 940 will perform 99% of the tasks of your average SAK, in one way or another. Though not necessarily in the best form.

Also, I hadn't realized how old this thread was. Oops.

I rarely carry a SAK myself, I prefer just one knife... but the knives I carry tend to be bigger... I probably couldn't use it as a very good screwdriver, for example. But then, I've never tried to do that, maybe it would work okay.

 

[EChoil]

The forked tip of the fish scaler is one of the handiest tools for working knots in leather, paracord, hemp and poly rope that there is. The scaler itself works very well when the only other choice is trying to do it with that badass KaBar.

I have a Hoffritz Cutlery SAK "Champion" by Victorinox acquired in the mid-70's...one of my first good knives. Lifetime, it is my most accompanied knife and it's not even EDC'd. It is handy urban or rural, although 80% of my use has been bush. It has travelled out of town with me everywhere, discretely... pocketed, belted or packed...unnoticed, unthanked and forgotten. Until needed.

Thousands of times.

The can opener not only saves the main blades it is quite functional once you get the rhythm down around the campfire. With the cap opener I've popped tops on many a bottle of whatever at the end of a day in the saddle. The saw is awesome---taken off the soft bough branches for many a good night's sleep...maybe the most impressive blade on the knife. The file is a good one and has been used to sharpen various edges and for metalwork in camp. The scissors are on their second mainspring and still sharp even though they've taken my full beard completely down at least twice in addition to everything else they've cut. The awl has been key to repairing many a camping item and leather good, sometimes in emergency; comes in handy at home a lot too. The toothpick has assisted me in many close-up and micro table and lap projects. The tweezers have impressed my friends with their out-of-a-hat availability. The tech screwdriver blade has bent but still works. The pen blade is wicked sharp and called on for most cutting. The main blade stays honed as a master slicer. I've never used the Phillips driver but the can key slot makes a good target holder.

IMO the tools are excellent within their design and work well. I don't ask it to do things obviously beyond its design and capability; mostly it's a small task knife.

I have "performed maintenance" on it less than a dozen times in its life. No rust. No joint rock. Never a groan. Never a problem. Just there when needed; otherwise forgotten.

In reading a few of these posts I find myself thankful I was bestowed with the ability to discern when I'm about to abuse one of the tools or the job is too much for the SAK. How anyone can own a SAK for any length of time and then trash it as worthless is beyond me.

I'm one who DOES say that when I break a good knife I was probably using it the wrong way.

 

[EChoil]

Perhaps I'm odd, but that's how I describe the knives I carry. I also only need to carry one, ever.
I would venture to say that a 940 will perform 99% of the tasks of your average SAK, in one way or another. Though not necessarily in the best form....

I bet if you made that statement its own thread here you'd get some debate on that.

 

[Alnamvet68]

SAKs are a great primary knife/multi-tool to have in your kit. To be sure, each tool does everything very well, and they work superbly in a pinch for most uses. Having said that, I believe SAK's, especially the alox models, are about as close to pocket perfection one will ever get from a knife/multi-tool. Victorinox produces about 40,000 knives per day, and sells every one...not bad for a "useless" pocket knife/tool.

 

[SAK Guy]

Perhaps I'm odd, but that's how I describe the knives I carry. I also only need to carry one, ever.
I would venture to say that a 940 will perform 99% of the tasks of your average SAK, in one way or another. Though not necessarily in the best form.

Also, I hadn't realized how old this thread was. Oops.

A 940? You mean a 940 Boker like this?

 

[crom]

Right, let's see you pry up a paint can lid with a BM 940 without damaging the blade. That's the beauty of the SAK's, the versatility. You don't have to have one with a bucnh of layers and tools, the two layer Vic Soldier is one of the best knives I have ever owned, and I have used ALL the tools over the years, some more than others of course.

 

[jackknife]

Perhaps I'm odd, but that's how I describe the knives I carry. I also only need to carry one, ever.
I would venture to say that a 940 will perform 99% of the tasks of your average SAK, in one way or another. Though not necessarily in the best form.

Also, I hadn't realized how old this thread was. Oops.

Oh man, if you were to try to do 50% of what even a basic SAK like a pioneer can do with your 940, you will bugger up a fine knife. Using any knife as a screw driver will ruin the edge or tip. Using as a can opener is slow, dangerous to the user, and will bugger up the edge. Trying to drill a hole through some material with your blade tip will not go nearly as well as with the awl on the SAK. And the can opener of the SAK makes a grab tool for pulling out those long copper staples that hold appliance boxes together. I found that out while unboxing my new fridge.

Rash statement to make.

 

[Lee48]

This is a very old thread, I know.

Although I don't carry a SAK anymore, the tools I miss the most are the bottle opener and toothpick. I have a Leatherman in my truck (and it's close by all the time) as well as a tool box--they can do more than the SAK did. But, damn, I miss having that toothpick.

 

[Vedenant]

Why oh why?

This whole "SAK is S**t" debate even exists? I could start a thread that hammers are useless, and use corkscrew as my basis for that claim. Everyone would see that it's just as stupid as your average political manifesto, and still people would flock to it to either prove or disprove the original claim.

Every tool has its strengths and weaknesses, h3ll I've broken 3 LM PSTs and one Swiss Champ "just doing what they are meant to do". Stuff breaks, simple as that.

BTW, I was still in service when that Champ broke, I used it as a primary projectile in a makeshift claymore mine (I was taking an IED course). The pliers broke, so I opened all the blades and taped it to the IED. Needless to say that .9lbs of RDX took care of that, we couldn't find a single trace of the poor knife in the target area! So I guess you could say that SAKs can't take a beating!!!

 

[22-rimfire]

Useless is in the eyes of the beholder. It is a size-weight comparison with the tools on the knife that you like to use at least occasionally. For me, I go with simple, but like the larger 111mm size. Not a tool on my Advernturer I have not used at one time or another. No I don't pry paint lids up with one unless I just "have to". I don't even depend on the screw drivers for much, but they are there for that one screw you need to loosen or tighten rather than digging out other tools. SAKs are GREAT. I carry one every single day along with another knife usually. But if I had to choose just one, it would likely be the SAK.